A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

A nonprofit, independent news source to inform, inspire, educate and connect the St. Louis Jewish community.

St. Louis Jewish Light

Rabbi Elizabeth Hersh

D’var Torah: We dance with the souls of our namesakes to find ourselves

RABBI ELIZABETH HERSHPublished December 1, 2022

“Alexander the Great had a soldier in his army who bore his own name but was a great coward. The emperor, enraged at the soldier’s conduct, justly said to him, ‘Either change your name, or learn to live up to it.’ ” (From “A Complete Treasury...

Dvar Torah: Maybe the Tower of Babel wasn’t so bad

D’var Torah: Maybe the Tower of Babel wasn’t so bad

RABBI DAVID A. REINHARTPublished October 27, 2022

This week’s Torah portion, Parashat Noach, tells the story of the eponymous Noah. Over six chapters (Genesis 6:9-11:32) and 153 verses, we read of Noah, the flood, the dove and olive branch, God’s promise to never again destroy the world and,...

Dvar Torah: ‘Earth-centered spirituality’ leads to harmony with the world

D’var Torah: ‘Earth-centered spirituality’ leads to harmony with the world

RABBI NEAL ROSEPublished May 19, 2022

What is Jewish time? I am not referring to our supposed casual approach to arriving at appointments or even at synagogue services. Rather, how do our spiritual teachers understand the nature of time? Rabbi Gershon Winkler teaches that “time...

Dvar Torah: Breaking matzah signifies oneness of Jewish people

D’var Torah: Breaking matzah signifies oneness of Jewish people

RABBI JEFFREY ABRAHAMPublished April 13, 2022

Passover is a time that accentuates the importance of oneness and unity.  On seder night, we remember our historic roots and re-experience both the dark days in Egypt and our miraculous redemption from bondage. Jewish people across the globe feel...

Portrait of Rabbi Josef Davidson

D’var Torah by Rabbi Josef Davidson: We are all holy in the eyes of the Divine

RABBI JOSEF DAVIDSONPublished February 10, 2022

In Tetzaveh, this week’s Torah portion, we learn that the High Priest was to wear a headdress to which a gold frontlet inscribed with “Holy to the Eternal” was attached by a blue cord. One might ask: Why was this gold frontlet attached to the...

Stock Image from Adobe.com

D’var Torah: May our days be filled with meaning

Rabbi Carnie Shalom Rose, Congregation B'nai AmoonaPublished December 16, 2021

Each year, as we prepare to read the final Torah portion in the book of Genesis, Parashat Vayechi, I am struck again by the opening verse of the portion: “And Jacob lived 17 years in the land of Egypt so that the total span of Jacob’s lifetime...

In August 2019, Rabbi Lane Steinger is flanked by Michelle, Esther and  Joel Weltman at Temple Israel in Godfrey, Ill. during a Friday night Shabbat service. 

Readings for a deeper dive into Deuteronomy verse

RABBI LANE STEINGERPublished July 29, 2021

Whenever I start to study this week’s Torah Portion, Eikev, Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25, I am drawn to one particular verse. It is Deuteronomy 8:10, the context of which refers to the bounty of the Promised Land and the food it will provide. The verse states:...

Congregation Bnai Amoona. Photo: Bill Motchan

D’var Torah: Our good names are linked to our good deeds

RABBI JEFFREY ABRAHAMPublished June 3, 2021

We are told in Pirkei Avot (4:17) that there are three crowns, and “the crown of a good name surpasses them all.” This cliché, of course, has been used endlessly; yet, it is still relevant.  In our parsha, Sh’lach L’kha, we have the renowned...

Portrait of Rabbi Josef Davidson

Hearing, not only seeing, is believing

RABBI JOSEF DAVIDSONPublished May 27, 2021

After my transfer to a new elementary school in the fourth grade, I was offered the opportunity to play a musical instrument. Music had always been a huge part of my life, whether in synagogue, which I attended each Shabbat morning with my grandfather,...

The new Kol Rinah building in Clayton is nearing completion.

Torah speaks to the challenges of reentry

RABBI NOAH ARNOWPublished May 20, 2021

It’s been more than a year since I began reading the Torah through COVID-colored glasses. Or perhaps more aptly, I’ve been reading Torah this year through a mask. Familiar stories and concepts in the Torah read differently from home, on Zoom, streaming,...

Rabbi Jeffrey Abraham serves Congregation B’nai Amoona and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.

Making memories is the sweet in Passover’s bitters

By Rabbi Jeffrey AbrahamPublished March 25, 2021

The “Sarajevo Haggadah,” handwritten and illustrated in 14th century Spain, was probably part of the expulsion from Spain in 1492. The details of how and when it arrived in Sarajevo, now the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, are not known. But it...

Rabbi Josef Davidson serves Congregation B’nai Amoona and is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the weekly d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.

D’var Torah: A tale of two congregations

By Rabbi Josef DavidsonPublished March 11, 2021

Remember when we used to congregate together in our synagogues, at the Jewish Community Center, at restaurants, in movie theaters and in other such meeting places? Remember when people wearing masks were usually about to commit a crime rather than protect...

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